NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană said on October 8 that Russia continues its attempts to establish a sphere of privileged influence with the frozen conflicts on the territory of close Partners of NATO.

“In the Black Sea region we see Russia continuing its attempts to establish a sphere of privileged influence with its military build-up, exercises like the recent Kavkaz 2020, the frozen conflicts on the territory of close Partners of NATO, like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova – and also, this was highlighted by a recent study on ‘Russia, NATO and Black Sea Security’ which was just published by this great organization. And, of course we see these very days, the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Also we see the protests of people’s right to choose in Belarus. And political upheaval in Kyrgyzstan.

But the nature – the very definition – of security threats is changing. Today, competition between nations often becomes in more subtle forms. Disinformation campaigns, election interference, cyber-attacks, foreign direct investment. This is the return of political warfare,” Geoană said at the Bucharest Forum: ‘Resilience, Pandenomics and the Great Acceleration’.